Outdoors

Last year, students from 24 counties – including Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton – participated in the Wildlife Leadership Academy.

This year, academy director Michele Kittell hopes for even more statewide representation and is accepting applications until Sunday, April 1. Applicants between the ages of 14-17 are eligible to attend one of two field schools: Pennsylvania Bucktails, which focuses on whitetail deer, or Pennsylvania Brookies, which focuses on brook trout and coldwater fisheries.

HARRISBURG – When the Pennsylvania Game Commission board of game commissioners gave preliminary approval to hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for 2012-13 at January's first quarterly meeting of the year, the recent trend of finding ways to increase hunting opportunities for both adult and youth hunters continued.

This year's annual sale of bluebird boxes is underway by the Pennsylvania Game Commission at its Harrisburg headquarters at 2001 Elmerton Ave. Boxes sell for $9.54, including sales tax, and customers can select from assembled boxes or kits that can be assembled as a wood-working project.

"Bluebirds are early nesters, so now is the time to put up new nest boxes, as well as to clean and repair existing boxes," PGC Wildlife Diversity Division chief Dan Brauning said. "These boxes enable Pennsylvanians to help wildlife in a natural way.

DAMERON, Md. When most sportsmen from this region think of visiting the Chesapeake Bay, the first thing that usually comes to mind is striped bass.

Because the Chesapeake is a popular destination for "rockfish," as they're called in Maryland, anglers traveling from near and far to battle the sleek, hard-fighting fish. Come late fall and winter, however, fishermen are not alone on the water, as thousands of hunters head out and about in search of a variety of waterfowl.

Preliminary approval to make permanent the lawful use of crossbows in archery deer and bear seasons was passed by an 8-0 vote by the Pennsylvania Game Commission board of game commissioners at last week's first quarterly meeting of the year. Final approval is expected at the April 24 meeting, when seasons and bag limits and antlerless permits will be approved for the 2012-13 hunting and trapping seasons.

KEMPTON – Not only did the 2011 Autumn Hawk Watch of the annual raptor migration count at the world-famous Hawk Mountain Sanctuary surpass the 10-year average with a total of 22,776 total species, but sanctuary biologists say that the unseasonably warm autumn weather that has extended into a relatively mild early winter has resulted in raptors still being seen on their southern migration.

After months of cleanup from last fall's flooding, the 24th annual Early Bird Sports Expo will be held Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 26-29, at the Bloomsburg Fairground. Show hours are Thursday, 4-9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

All saltwater anglers are reminded by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission that they can register with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for free beginning Sunday, Jan. 1, through the PFBC's website. NOAA requires annual registration from both Pennsylvania residents and non-residents – 16 years of age or older – who target or catch shad, striped bass and river herring from the Delaware River below Trenton Falls or in the Delaware River Estuary.

Pennsylvania's forest and park system offers a wide range of ways for visitors to enjoy spending time outdoors during the winter, according to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. To view scheduled activities around the state, visit on the Web at www.getoutdoorspa.state.pa.us.